Whether you are an aspiring author or on your sixth or seventh book, professional development comes with the territory. The business of being an author can be overwhelming for many people who don’t have the background. How can you best prepare for today’s marketplace? I’ve worked with writers on their craft for decades and these are the secrets to the success of their writing and publishing efforts. Read. I mean read a lot. Obsessively. Read deeply in your genre. Read broadly beyond your comfort zone. Read for craft. Read for fun. Patronize your local public library. Volunteer. Get to know your reference librarian. Attend events and participate in programs there. Shop at your local brick and mortar bookstore. Befriend the bookseller and encourage others to frequent the store. Give books as gifts. Attend author events and buy a copy for the author to sign. Join a book club. Reading titles you might not otherwise is good practice. You refine your sense of what you like and learn what other readers like, or don’t, and why. Take a class or writing workshop. Continuing professional development is always encouraged. No matter how many books you’ve got under your belt, you continue to grow your writing talents. Join a writer’s group. Meeting with other writers who commit to improve their work has many benefits. Not the least of which is the support and accountability you provide to one another. Read your work-in-progress or poetry to an audience. Or tell your story at a…

Jill D. Swenson’s forthcoming  memoir, The Land of Everlasting Sky: A Memoir of Loss and Legacy on Lake of the Woods, will be released on June 2 from She Writes Press (distributed by Simon & Schuster). Early reviews have praised the book; D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer at Midwest Book Review calls it, “…a powerfully evocative discourse on race, culture, and personal empowerment which weaves together a seemingly disparate set of values and observations, creating a narrative powerfully impactful in its tone and approach to life.” And Kirkus Reviews writes, “Deeply moving and eye-opening, this memoir confronts the centuries of systemic bigotry that have led to Indigenous erasure.” Clear-eyed and yet deeply personal, The Land of Everlasting Sky is a compelling exploration of the history we inherit and our relationships to land and each other. You can pre-order your copy here. Q: You learned an Ojibwe family had been removed from their land to build a casino. How did that discovery lead to a book? A: After my mother’s funeral, I visited northern Minnesota where she grew up. My fondest memories of Mom were from my childhood vacations spent with her family in Warroad—picking wild blueberries, swimming in Lake of the Woods, seeing a moose, meeting an old Ojibwe man named Kakaygeesick in the nursing home. When I returned to Warroad in 2014 and discovered Kakaygeesick’s great-grandson, Don, and his elderly mother had been forcibly removed from their land by Red Lake Nation to build a new casino, I thought it…

As gift-giving season draws closer, publishers look to retailers to stock up for the holidays, but this season, one of the largest retailers, Amazon, decided to drastically cut book orders to publishers. The cuts are due to space issues in Amazon’s warehouses as they make room for “bigger-ticket items for Black Friday and Cyber Monday,” Publisher’s Weekly suggests. This choice to cut orders has a significant impact on publishers, resulting in lower sales during a season when publishers count on high buy-ins. Amazon’s decision is especially hurtful to indie publishers who rely heavily or completely on Amazon for sales. The decision “will affect publishers’ bottom lines for months to come,” Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) states. Despite the fact that Amazon began as an online bookstore in 1994, its ever-increasing dominance and power creates a dependency that ultimately hurts the book industry. Amazon has no devotion or concern for the book industry, and its decision to cut book orders demonstrates just how important it is for book lovers to avoid Amazon for book purchases. The head of one company suggested moving more sales to retailers like Walmart and Barnes & Noble, but the best thing book buyers can do to support the industry is to make purchases from local independent bookstores. Purchasing from indie bookstores supports jobs, authors, and the local economy in a way that large retailers like Amazon simply cannot. Despite its convenience, Amazon is ultimately a harm to the book industry. This season, support your local community…